The invention relates to goods-handling doors.
The term xe2x80x9cgoods-handling doorsxe2x80x9d is used to designate doors installed in factories, warehouses, sheds, stores, etc. to make communication possible between different volumes or with the outside, and to provide temperature and noise insulation between said volumes or relative to the outside.
In general, such a door must be capable of being opened and closed rapidly, by opening or closing an opening formed in a wall, in order to enable people and vehicles to pass through, and in order to limit the time for which said insulation is no longer provided.
One type of such a door comprises a panel mounted to move up and down between two uprights. It is common for the door to comprise a curtain that can be rolled or folded up at the top of the opening (or on either one of the sides of the opening), it being possible generally for the curtain to be a flexible sheet or to be made up of hinged panels. A rotary shaft is disposed, for example above the opening, to roll up the curtain, or else straps are provided to raise the curtain. The curtain is generally reinforced by at least one rigid bar whose ends slide with the edges of the curtain in vertical (or optionally horizontal) slideways disposed in the uprights, or formed by said uprights.
The slideways serve to guide the edges of the curtain and to provide the best possible sealing.
An object of the present invention is to provide an upright or a slideway for that type of door. Known slideways are made of folded sheet metal and by welding, or they may be made by extrusion (see, for example, German Patent Applications Nos. 74 11596, 74 12450, and 295 13 279). It is usually necessary to mount the slideways on carrier uprights, to fix the uprights or the slideways to brackets or to a crosspiece at their tops, to weld on a stage for receiving the motor members, and to fix the bottoms to bases. The bare parts must be cleaned and painted.
An object of the invention is to provide an upright carrying a slideway, or a multi-function slideway, that can be made more simply, more accurately, more quickly, and less expensively, while also offering greater rigidity and robustness. An object of the invention is also to provide a door constructed using such uprights.
FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a goods-handling door of the fold-up curtain type that is conventional and quite general. It is placed against a wall 10 to close and to open an opening formed in the wall between two inside volumes, or between an inside volume and an outside volume. It includes a curtain 61 mounted to move between uprights 62 and 63 that contain slideways, in which the edges of the curtain slide, as do the ends of stiffener bars 64. The bars 64 are received in horizontal sheaths formed in the curtain. The uprights 62 and 63 are interconnected at their tops by a horizontal crosspiece 65. The uprights and/or the crosspiece are fixed to the wall by any suitable means. The horizontal top edge of the curtain is fixed suitably to the inside of the crosspiece. The curtain is moved by vertical straps 66 whose bottom ends are fixed to a bottom stiffener bar 67 which is itself fixed along the bottom horizontal edge of the curtain which, in the closed position, rests on the ground, or lies in the vicinity thereof.
To raise the curtain, the straps can be wound up on a shaft disposed in the top crosspiece 65. The shaft is controlled by an electric motor, and an electrical installation serves to enable the curtain to be moved under automatic control. To drive the various bars, the straps pas through loops 68 fixed to the bars 64, windows being provided in the sheaths receiving the bars 64 so as to enable the loops to pass through. Well-known devices may be provided to cause the door to be opened automatically when a vehicle approaches.
Gebrauchsmuster No. 7 411 596also discloses an upright including a slideway, the upright being made up of two elements that can made by extrusion. That upright is formed with grooves and ribs for various fixing purposes: fixing together the two elements of the upright, and fixing slide strips for protecting the slideway from wear and facilitating sliding.
The present invention provides an upright for a goods-handling door that comprises a panel mounted to move up and down between two uprights, said upright including a slideway for guiding one edge of the panel, the slideway being made up of two walls, each wall having an outside face and an inside face, the two inside faces defining a slide volume between them that is centered on a slide plane, said upright being characterized in that it includes at least one surface organized to be applied against a wall so that the slide plane is parallel to said wall, and so that said wall is situated at a sufficient distance from the adjacent outside face of the slideway, and the volume situated between the wall and said outside face being unobstructed so as to be capable of receiving the edge of the panel when said panel is disengaged from the slideway.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, the upright has a closed section defining an internal volume that can receive accessories, and various members such as, for example, electric wires, controls, ducts, cables, and a counterweight.
According to a characteristic of the invention, the upright is obtained in a single operation. Preferably, said operation enables the upright to be made completely and finally to its installation and operating dimensions: extrusion, pultrusion, drawing, rolling, thermoforming, continuous forming, or stamping.
In an embodiment of the invention, the upright is obtained by assembling together or snap-fastening at least two pieces, at least one of which is obtained in a single operation.
According to a characteristic of the invention, at least one of the pieces is obtained by extrusion, pultrusion, drawing, rolling, thermoforming, continuous forming, or stamping.
The invention also provides a door including at least one such upright, and preferably two symmetrical uprights. Advantageously, for each upright, such a door includes a base for receiving the upright directly, which base bears against the floor.
In an advantageous application, the panel of the door comprises at least one curtain made up of at least two juxtaposed flexible sheets interconnected vertically via a stiffener bar, at least one edge of each sheet forming a horizontal portion of extra thickness and the bar being provided with two channels which open to the outside via a slot whose edges turn inwards to retain the thickened edges of the sheets.
When the panel is made up of one or two flexible curtains, the wall of the slideway may have a thickness such that the outside face of said wall lies substantially in the plane of a curtain.
In an embodiment, the panel is made up of at least one flexible curtain reinforced by at least one horizontal bar whose end is provided with a guide shoe including a guide peg organized to penetrate into and slide in the slideway, and at least one slide tab disposed to slide against the outside surface of a wall of the slideway. The guide peg may be provided with a roller.